Documentary

How did you use technology: construction, Research, planning, evaluation ?

These are mood boards that show the technologies i used throughout the tasks

During the research process I used the internet to find out information for secondary research and also for primary research to find out phone numbers of local shops to ask if we could film in their shops. I therefore also used the technology of a phone to contact the different shops. I used a television to watch other documentaries to find out the codes and conventions of documentaries. I also used a camera to film and take pictures of people answering the questionnaire we produced. I also used this blog during the research process to show the work I produced.

During the construction process I used many forms of technology such as different computer programmes such as Photoshop, to create the print advert, Adobe Premier, to create the actual documentary and Adobe Audition to create the radio advert. I continued to use my blog to show the work I produced. We used a microphone during our interviews to get the best possible sound quality for the documentary. We also used a camera to record some of the footage for the documentaryas well as the internet to get archive footage. A camera was used to take pictures of the group completing certain tasks such as filming different shots. We also used Windows movie maker to change pictures to make them look like old film. To record the voice over and radio advert we used radio suite to get the best possiable sound quality.

During the evaluation process I used Photoshop to create these mood boards. A television was used so that the test audience could watch the documentary and give the group feedback and then they were recorded using a voice recorder and a camera to collect their feedback. I also used this blog to show the work I produced.

All of these technologies helped me to produce the documentary and other tasks, however some were more essential that others such as the camera was essential to get the footage for the documentary however the microphones were not necessarily essential however improved the overall quality of the documentary and created a professional aspect to the documentary. A computer was also essential in creating this documentary as editing needs to be done on a computer and lots of the research we did was on a computer and this blog was also completed using a computer. New technologies have made producing this documentary, and other documentaries, much easier with the help of lighter equipment which makes filming easier and footage can be collected easier. New technologies have also helped with the editing process as all of our editing was done on a computer in one programme.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback ?

For our audience feedback we asked a number of people the following quesitions:

Would you want to watch the whole documentary?

Can you tell that the adverts are for the documentary?

Do you think they scheduling for the doc is the right time and channel?

How do you think this documentary compares to a professional doc?

Do you think the voice over used is appropriate?

What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses about the product?

This video shows some of the responses to the questions we asked

From the audience feedback I have collected I have come to the following conclusions:

• That people would want to watch the rest of the documentary which connotes that the first 5 minutes were interesting enough to make people want to watch more.
• There was good coherence created between the print advert, radio advert and documentary with people noticing the same voice over and questions in all three products. This also signifies that the adverts are doing what they are supposed to do in advertising the documentary.
• The documentary is to a good standard as people thought it could be a professional documentary.
• The voice over used is appropriate and helps move the documentary on, this voice over is also clear and understandable.
• The scheduling of the documentary was appropriate for most people as people like watching BBC documentaries and watch television at the time the documentary was scheduled for.
• If we made the documentary again, from the audience feedback, some of the footage could be improved and the cutaways could be more relevant to the interviews and one of the grahics is spelt wrong as we put 'Athesist' and it is spelt 'Atheist'.

Producing this audience feedback has shown me the importance of audience feedback to media organisations and has shown me how much of an impact a test audience can have and how a product can be improved from it.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks ?

• • The same three questions are used on all three products ‘What does Christmas mean to you? Is it all about God, spending time with your family? Or is it all about the gifts?’
  
  This picture shows the print advert we produced and the three questions on the christmas tree
  
  
  This is a clip of the radio advert we produced which includes the three questions
  
  
  
  This is a clip from our documentary which includes the three questions
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The scheduling of the programme and adverts also create coherence across the three products as they are scheduled to appeal to the target audience and therefore the radio advert would appear on BBC radio 1 as the target audience is 16 – 24 year old which has the same target age group as the documentary.
  
  The same voice over is used for the documentary and radio advert to create a familiarity and so when the audience watch the documentary they will be able to recognise something from the advert. We used the technique of a 'voice of god' voice over as it follows the codes and conventions of many documentaries.
  
  
• We have used a tag line in both adverts saying 'the truth behind the modern Christmas' which also combines the three products. This helps the audeince see that the adverts are for the same product and are threrfore more likly to watch the product if they hear about it more.
• We have also used some of the same music in the documentary as in the radio advert such as the 'money money money' clip and the instrumental sound under the voice over in the radio and the beginning of the documentary. Which helps the audience identify that the advert they saw is for the documentary that they are watching.

The print advert and radio advert were produced to advertise the documentary.


The radio advert would mostly be played on BBC radio 1 as that station has the same target audeince as the documentary .


The print advert was produced landscape so it could therefore be published in newspapers, such as the first image below advertising the shop 'Magnet' and also on a billboards such as the billboard below advertising the programme 'Lost'.

image taken from the Daily Mirror



image found at http://www.docarzt.com/


The newspapers that the print advert would be published in are the following:

In what ways does your product use develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products ?

These pictures show how the documentary we produced follows the codes and conventions of documentaries with a screen grab from our documentary and a real documentary found on youtube.

For our documentary we chose to produce a explository documentary and therefore our documentary contains a 'voice of god' narrator which anchors the meaning of the images and juxtaposed images and sounds.

The first two screen grabs are connoting the code and convention of documentaries framing a shot a certain way so that the interviewee is one one side of the screen and so that they are not looking directly at the camera and are looking off screen to the person asking the questions. The first pictire is a sceen grab from our doumentary and the second is a clip from a Westlife documentary found on youtube. These two screen grabs also signify the codes and conventions of documentaries with the mise en scene used to reflect the interviewees job or position in the documentary such as in the clip from the documentary we made the Vicar is dressed like a Vicar and there are religious images in the background and in the Westlife screen grab the mise en scene is that of a dressing room . The link to the youtube video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OLcsdDuO9U

The next two images show graphics on screen which is a code and convention of documentaries and signifys to the audience who the person being interviewed is. The first one is a sceen grab from our documentary and the other is a clip from one found on youtube. The graphics are used in documentaries to connote to the audience who the person on screen is and their significance to the documentary. The link to the youtube video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLUGMWrd-AM

This is a copy of all of our voice-over in which we used a 'voice of god' voice-over which is used im many documentaries such as the youtube link below which also uses a 'voice of god' narrator. We chose to use this type of voice over to add a proffesional element to the documentary and to help anchour the meaning of the images.

Music is also important in a documentary as it helps move the documentary on and can help break the documentary up. The first video is a clip from our documentary and the music in the clip helps break the documentary up and keeps the documentary moving. The second video is a clip from a real documentary called 'Naked Nashville' and from 3.32 to 3.50 music is used to break up two interviews.

Radio Advert

Print advert